


in case you didn't know

by westofmoon



Series: in case you didn't know au [1]
Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: A Panic Attack, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Blood, Character Deaths, Cop AU, Eventual Smut, F/M, Gun Violence, Mentions of sex trafficking, Mutual Pining, References to Drugs, Rookie Blue AU, Smut, Some Fluff, Undercover, a character is drugged, a stabbing, abductions and kidnapping, level of graphicness varies by topic and chapter, physical assault, talk of murders, trigger warnings for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2020-12-20 17:49:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21060716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westofmoon/pseuds/westofmoon
Summary: Serve. Protect. And don’t screw up.Rookie Officer Aelin Galathynius hadn’t expected her first day on the job to go quite like this. It started out simple enough, investigating a noise complaint with her Training Officer, and it had all gone down hill from there. From shots fired in a drug deal gone bad, to chasing the apparent suspect down a back alley, only to find out she just blew the cover of a fellow officer. ‘Don’t screw up’ is easier said than done.





	1. - intro -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> teaser for chapter 1

_late February_

Rookie Officer Aelin Galathynius hadn’t expected her first day on the job to go quite like this. It started out simple enough, investigating a noise complaint with her Training Officer, Connall Moonbeam. It had all gone down hill from there. 

While speaking to the woman who had called in the complaint, shots were fired in an upstairs room of the rundown apartment and they had gone in, guns drawn, and found a man dead in an apparent drug deal gone bad. 

The first backup on scene had been Aelin’s own cousin, Officer Aedion Ashryver, alongside her fellow rookie officer and friend, Lysandra Ennar. While Aedion and Officer Moonbeam had spoken to more witnesses, Aelin and Lys had been ordered to clear the rest of the building while also searching for any suspicious persons or someone matching the suspects description: tall, shaggy black hair, dark clothing.

Nearly back to back, Aelin and Lysandra made their way down the halls and up the stairs, Lys on point and Aelin taking flank, clearing each room just as they had been trained.

But no amount of training could have hoped to have prepared her for this, and Aelin’s heart felt like it was lodged in her throat. 

On the third floor, they split up, Lysandra taking one hallway, as Aelin took the other. Aelin approached the first closed door and knocked, “Orynth PD. Is anyone in there?” She received no answer, there was no sound coming from inside. Most of the rooms in the building were unoccupied anyway. So she eased open the door and went inside. It was clear and completely bare. No one lived there. 

On she moved to the next, and the one after that. She was nearly to the end of the hall when her ears picked up on a noise and she froze. It was soft. The low humming drone of hushed conversation, coming from further down the hall. Room 302. 

As quickly and quietly as she could, Aelin tiptoed down the hall. The closer she came to door, she realized it was slightly ajar, and she could make out the voices of two different men speaking in hushed tones inside. Getting as close as she dared, Aelin angled her head to peek inside.

There was an older, scruffy looking fellow with graying hair speaking to a younger man… with black hair and dressed in black clothing. 

Her heart nearly leapt out of her body. He matched the suspect description provided by the witness downstairs. Aelin thought she might be sick as her nerves shot through the roof. 

No, this was definitely not what she expected from her first day on the job. 

Aelin glanced down the hall, praying that she would find Lysandra coming to join her, but her friend was no where to be seen. 

She worried her lip. If she left to find Lys, she risked that whoever was in that room might slip away before they got back. Or, if she waited for Lys to join her, they might notice her outside and flee. 

Knowing what she had to do, Aelin took a deep breath, steeling her nerves. She could do this. She would do this. Because she was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius and she would not be afraid. 

She adjusted her grip on her gun, lifting it higher. And then, before her nerves could return and make her second guess her decision, Aelin shoved her shoulder against the door, knocking it open as she said, loudly and clearly, “Orynth P.D.! Don’t move!” 

Both men jumped slightly at her intrusion, looking up at her from where they were perched by the open window with wide surprised eyes. The older man looked ready to piss himself, his hands flying into the air above his head and his knees practically knocking together. There was a tiny clear baggy filled with a white substance clutched in one of his upraised hands.

The younger man just stared at her with an arched brow, tilting his head in a way that reminded her of a hawk watching prey. He was older than she was, around thirty, with a rugged face and several days scruff on his jaw. His hair was black, slightly shaggy and messy, and he was wearing a black shirt under a worn leather jacket, ripped jeans and boots. In his hand was a wad of cash.

It was fairly obvious she had stumbled upon them in the middle of a deal. If he was the suspect, he had to either be stupid or overconfident to hang around after the other had gone so badly awry. Judging by the look he was giving her, it was the latter. 

His eyes raked over her slowly, a lazy smirk tugging at his lips, and when he finally met her gaze Aelin blinked. His eyes were the most striking shade of dark green she had ever seen. 

He grinned, running his tongue over his teeth. “You lost, sweetheart?” he asked with a lilting accent that was far more beautiful than it should have been, given the circumstances.

“I’m not your sweetheart,” Aelin growled back. “And I said not to move.”

“There’s no need to be rude, darling,” he chided, ignoring her tone and smirking as she bristled once more at his new nickname. He folded the cash in his hand and stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans as he slid off of the windowsill. “You’re the one who just barged in without knocking.”

Aelin swallowed hard, her eyes widening. Gods he was huge. Way of six feet tall, broad shouldered and muscled beneath the clothes he wore. She was trying very hard not to think about how he could snap her like a twig. Her gun wobbled as her hands shook, and she tried to pass it off as just adjusting her grip. 

His sharp eyes caught the movement, dipping to the gun in her hands before lifting back up to hers. And for a heartbeat that cockiness faded, flickering with something that looked a lot like understanding. But it was gone just as quickly, the arrogance returning, as he gave her another crooked grin. “Later sweetheart.”

Before she could do more than blink in response, he turned, and with a grace that a man of his size should not have possessed, he ducked out of the open window and onto the fire escape. 

“Stop!” she shouted after him. 

The bastard had the gall to reach back in through the window and grab his companion by the collar of his jacket, pulling him along as he took off down the stairs.

Aelin lunged after them. “Damn it!” She could hear the larger man lumbering down the iron scaffolding, could feel the iron humming and shuddering beneath his weight as she crawled out onto the escape after them. “I said stop!” she yelled after them.

“Or what, sweetheart?” his laughing voice called back. 

Aelin shoved her gun back into its holster as she ran after them, grabbing onto the hand rail and swinging herself around each landing as quickly as she could. When her boots hit the pavement of the alley, the two men were nowhere to be seen. 

She quickly made her way down wending back streets behind the apartment complex and the surrounding houses. There were bushes and corners and alcoves all over the place, offering plenty of options for two men to hide. But her search turned up nothing. She was about to turn around, sure that she had gone the wrong way and lost the two, when she heard voices again. One of them the same deep baritone with the accent, coming from around the corner ahead. 

Drawing her gun, she crept along side the building towards the corner, turning and lifting her gun. “Don’t move!” It was the same two men from before. And this time, there was no where else for them to go. “Hands where I can see them! Now!”

The older man complied immediately, but the black haired one… He just glared at her. Gone was the smug ass from upstairs, now he was serious. And pissed.

Fear tingled down her spine but she did her best to not let it show. “Hands up now,” she repeated, her eyes locked on him as she tried to keep her voice from quaking. Slowly, so very slowly, he lifted his hands. “Both of you up against the fence. Now.”

The older fellow whimpered pitifully, but they both did as she ordered, even though the green eyed man still glared at her over his shoulder. Aelin holstered her gun again and reached for her handcuffs.

And the man with green eyes lunged. Not for her, but around her. She dove for him, but he easily evaded, her fingers grazing the back of his leather jacket as he darted out of the little alcove and took off down the street in a sprint. 

Once again, Aelin took off after him. He was several feet ahead of her, his long legs quickly putting distance between them. But then he stumbled, his boot slipping on the wet pavement or catching on a crack, she didn’t know, but he nearly went sprawling face first. Somehow managed to right himself. 

That momentary hindrance was enough for Aelin, however. 

She closed close the distance between them and launched herself at his back, arms encircling his waist as she tackled him. He went down hard, slamming into the ground, and the momentum caused him to roll over onto his back. His body broke her own fall, and he let out a loud groan of pain, his eyes scrunched closed, as she landed on top of him.

Aelin lifted herself up onto her knees, planting one on his chest as she twisted around to look behind her at the other man, who was currently attempting to sneak away while she was preoccupied with this one. “Back against the fence!” she snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at him. He quickly nodded and literally flung himself back up against the chain link fence. Satisfied he wasn’t going anywhere, she turned her attention back to the man pinned beneath her. 

He was looking up at her, those green eyes wide and beseeching. “You’re making a _mistake_,” he ground out quietly. 

“Of course I am,” she replied sarcastically. “Now roll over.” She gripped his upper arm and pulled until he flipped onto his stomach. 

As she pulled his hands around behind his back, he dropped his dark head onto the pavement with another groan. “Please you have to let me go,” he pleaded, sounding almost desperate. When she simply tightened the cuffs around his wrists in response, he let out a hiss. 

“Not happening.” She immediately began patting down his legs, finding another small clear plastic bag with pills in his back pocket. That was a possession charge tacked on to him fleeing the scene. Aelin flipped him back over, and he stared unseeingly up at the gray sky, a dead sort of look in his green eyes, as she searched under his jacket and around his waistband, his pockets. Gods, he was as solid as steel beneath his clothes. He really could have broken her in two if he had wanted. “Where’s the gun?” she demanded.

His expression hardened as he glared at her. “I don’t have a gun, I’m on a _job_,” he growled between his teeth, glancing cautiously down the street at the man against the fence. 

Aelin made a face at him. Fine, let him keep playing this game. She pushed herself to her feet and grabbed him by the elbow, hauling him to his feet. “Not anymore.”

~*~*~


	2. Chapter 2

Aelin led her two prisoners back around to the front of the apartment building, intent on putting them in the back of the cruiser until she could speak with her TO. She ignored the baleful glances the black haired man kept sending her way and kept her eyes straight ahead. But when she rounded the corner of the building, Connall was waiting, his tall frame leaning against the cruiser door, arms crossed over his chest and looking royally pissed off. 

His dark eyes glanced up and spotted her, and his brows shot up in irritation. “Where the hell have you been? We’ve been radioing you. Ennar was worried sick.”

She glanced down at her walkie. The little red light wasn’t on. Oops. As discreetly as she could, she turned the switch on, wincing as it gave a screech. The green eyed man snorted, but then he tensed and ducked his head as they approached Connall. “Officer Moonbeam, I-”

“What are you doing?” he asked, cutting her off as he eyed the two men.

Aelin halted next to the car where Connall still stood, the tall, green eyed man trying to lag back, as if he didn‘t want to go near Connall. She tugged him along. “I’ve made some arrests, sir.”

“I can see that. Why?” Connall asked, quirking a brow

Her face fell in disappointment. “Y- You said not to let anyone leave the premises,” she explained, really, she would have thought he would be pleased that she had followed his orders. “I found them upstairs, and they fled the scene when I approached them. And again when I tracked them down. Also I got this one,” she nudged the taller one in the arm, “for possession. They were exchanging money when I found them, and I found drugs on the both of them.” 

Connall still didn’t look impressed as he eyed the two men, in fact he looked outright irritated. But as he was looking over the taller, black-haired man, his eyes widened and suddenly let out a strangled noise that morphed into a cough. 

Aelin looked at him in concern. “Are you alright, sir?”

He quickly schooled his features, averting his gaze. “Sorry. Something caught in my throat.” He coughed again and cleared his throat. “Good job, Galathynius. Put them in the cruiser and let’s get them to the station.” He sounded very much like he was having a difficult time holding back a laugh. 

Aelin she could have sworn the she heard the green eyed man huff under his breath, “Shut up, Con.” She looked up at him questioningly, arching a brow, but Connall opened the rear door and motioned for her to put them in. So she did as she was told.

The ride back to the station felt a lot longer than it was, the air charged and an awkward silence settling over the interior of the vehicle. She could feel the green eyed man’s gaze burning into the back of her head the entire time, and she tried to avoid glancing in any of the mirrors because every time she did, she found him already glowering at her. 

When they finally arrived at the precinct, Connall pulled around to the back of the building and parked in the bay, where all prisoners were dropped off to be taken in to booking. He instructed her to take the older gentleman, and he would see to the black-haired one, which was fine by Aelin, and they led the two men inside and down the short hall to the office. 

Just as they reached the door to booking, two other officers exited the room. One was Detective Fenrys Moonbeam, Connall’s twin brother, the other was Staff Sergeant Lorcan Salvaterre. Both men eyed them as they approached, Fenrys with amusement, Lorcan with his customary scowl that rivaled the black-haired man’s. Lorcan’s dark brows shot up in alarm as his black eyes scanned the taller of the two men, a look akin to recognition in his dark eyes that quickly vanished. 

But Fenrys was nodding at his brother, and then gave her a flirty wink. “Wow, A. Already busting some bad boys on your first day?” He gave her a teasing grin as he turned his dark eyes to the two prisoners, and his face twisted in surprise they settled on the green eyed man Connall was leading. The prisoner ducked his head a bit more, as if trying to avoid his attention.

“Whitethorn?” Fenrys laughed. Lorcan shot Fenrys a warning look that he ignored, instead he let out a happy _woop_ and leaped upon the man, giving him a hug. “What are you doing back?” 

Aelin’s eyes widened in shock. Confusion and dread were pooling in her gut. Fenrys clearly knew who this man was, and thinking back to earlier, to Connall’s reaction. He also seemed to be aware of who this man was. And even Lorcan, the look that had crossed his face…

Fenrys went on. “I thought that y-” But he broke off suddenly, finally seeming to noticed the deeply confused gazes directed at the two of them. His dark eyes scanned her face, her prisoner’s, the hand Connall had lifted to his face. And then he glanced down at the green-eyed man’s clothes, up at his face, the resigned, suffering expression twisting his features, and quickly stepped back. “I- I mean… um… I haven’t seen you since I arrested you months ago,” he stammered, trying and failing to sound harsh. "What are you doing out again?”

The green eyed man, Whitethorn, or whatever his name was, closed his eyes and let out a heavy, growling sigh. 

Brows drawn, Aelin opened her mouth to ask what exactly was going on, when the older prisoner turned to the younger, his face twisted in an expression of shock and betrayal. “You’re a _cop_?” 

And just like that, the world disappeared from beneath Aelin’s feet. It was like she was looking at everything through someone else’s eyes. The world around her echoed as if she were underwater. 

_What the hell happened?_

_I was trying to get him out before anyone saw. _

_I’m sorry, man._

She was aware of the others speaking. Could vaguely hear the droning thrum of raised voices as they all spoke at once. As Fenrys ducked his head and Connall gestured at something she didn’t see, as Lorcan grabbed the arm of a passing officer and then the prisoner she was escorting was gone, pulled from her limp grasp. 

A cop. The green-eyed man was a fellow officer. And she had just… She had… 

Everything he had said before, his words and behavior, suddenly made a different sort of sense. 

_You’re making a mistake. Please, you have to let me go. I’m on a job. _

He was in the middle of a job. Undercover on some important investigation that Mala knew how long he had been working. And she had just ruined all of it.

Someone removed the handcuffs from his wrists and then that intense, green eyed gaze met hers once more, pinning her in place. And Aelin couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Ire radiated off of him, twisting his handsome features into a thing of cruel beauty. 

And then he turned and disappeared through the door. 

~*~ 

“She’s a rookie! She shouldn’t have been left unsupervised!” The green eyed man, whom Aelin had since learned was named Rowan Whitethorn, a fellow officer here at the Orynth PD, was livid. And even that term was an understatement.

Aelin wanted to sink through the floor as he seethed to their Chief, Gavriel, who just so happened to be Aelin’s own uncle and the father of her cousin. 

Rowan’s anger was palpable as he paced back and forth like a midnight storm before Gavriel’s desk, flinging his hands as he shouted about how she had screwed up everything. As if she didn’t already know. 

“A _year_!” Rowan growled, his voice so guttural she barely understood. “A whole, gods damned, fucking _year_ of working my ass off for a way in!” 

“I understand, Rowan,” Gavriel spoke calmly, his tawny eyes tracking each movement Rowan made. Gavriel had his elbows resting on his desk, hands folded carefully before his mouth. Aelin knew that gesture. A tactic he used to hide the tight set of his mouth when he was displeased by something, to hide his level of irritation. 

Fenrys swallowed nervously, a guilty look on his handsome face as he took a step forward, “Sir, it was my fault. Con was trying to get him out of there before anyone noticed and I-”

But Rowan apparently wasn‘t finished with his tirade, and he cut Fenrys off with a raised voice. “I was finally, _finally_ about to get my face to face meeting with Hamel! The one damn thing I needed finally make my take down, and I was _literally_ finalizing it with my go-between and this…” He turned to her, gesturing at with a hand. “This _child_,” he hissed, voice filled with venom, “comes waltzing in and fucking blows it all up! A year long operation blown to Hellas’s realm by some rookie arresting one of her own on her first damn day on the job!” He sneered at her, “Thanks kid.” 

Aelin felt her face heating with shame and anger. Her hands balled into fists at her sides, nails biting into her palms in an effort not to strangle him, officer or no. She was not a _child_. The sympathetic looks Fenrys and her Uncle sent her way only made her feel worse. 

Rowan’s mouth twisted in a dark smirk, as if he could read exactly what she was thinking and found it amusing. And then his eyes dropped from her face down to her chest. And they narrowed dangerously. “_Galathynius_?” he asked in dismay. “As in Rhoe Galathynius?”

Oh no. Lips pressed in a thin line, she nodded. “Yes. He’s my father.”

A cold laugh burst from his lips and he dragged a hand down his face. “Of course. Of rutting course! It would be the _academy princess _that skirted by on her father’s name! That makes this _so_ much better!” Rowan turned away, running his hands through his dark hair. “I’m sure he’s very proud of you right now.” 

The words hit their intended mark and stung. Aelin dropped her gaze, trying to keep her anger in check. She was so sick of hearing those words. Sick of people saying that she had ridden her father’s coat tails to get to where she was now. She had worked her ass off at the academy, and to repeatedly have people use her father to try and diminish her accomplishments… without even giving her a chance to prove herself.

When she didn’t respond, he scoffed, and with a final parting sneer, he stormed out of the office.

“Rowan,” Gavriel called after him, but the door slammed behind him and he was gone. 

Aelin turned to her uncle. “I’m so sorry, sir. I know I screwed up and I-”

Gavriel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sat back in his chair. “It will be alright, Aelin. He just needs some time to simmer down." 

Fenrys nudged her arm, and Aelin glanced up at him. He winked at her. "Whitethorn will get over it. He’s just pissed that a girl took him down." 

The blond’s attempt to lighten the mood fell flat, the words only serving to further hammer home Rowan’s accusations. It just felt like they were only being nice, letting her get away with this terrible mistake because of her father. And Aelin couldn’t stand it. "Am I excused, sir?” she asked Gavriel. 

Gavriel simply nodded, his eyes locked on a stack of paperwork and manila folders on his desk. 

As Aelin was exiting the room, she heard her uncle murmur, “We’ll have to get in touch with Vaughn. To discuss the complications this will cause for the case.”

“If word of this gets out…,” Fenrys began, but the words cut off as the door closed behind her. And honestly, Aelin was thankful for it. 

She made it a grand total of ten steps down the hall before her shoulders slumped in on themselves, and she had to lean against the wall as the weight of everything crashed down on her. Her breathing came a little faster, and she ran her hands over her face and down her braided hair as she tried to keep her emotions in check. What if she lost her job because of this? What if…. 

No. She put a stop to those thoughts before they spiraled any further. Panicking about that right now, especially in the middle of the precinct hallway, would only serve to reinforce everyone’s already skewed opinions of her. She took another steadying breath. 

Worrying about herself and her job wasn’t a priority right now. There was still a case to solve. A man was dead and the killer was still out there somewhere. She needed to focus on that, and whatever the consequences of her mistake today were… she would just have to face them when they arose. 

She needed to find Connall, to see if there had been any further developments. So Aelin set out down the halls in search of her training officer.

But as she walked past the entrance to the locker rooms, she heard a loud, incessant banging noise. Aelin paused mid-step to listen.

_Bang. Bang bang bang bang. _

It was coming from inside the men’s locker room. 

Aelin glanced around to see if anyone else was coming to investigate the noise, but no one else seemed to be bothered enough to notice. Turning back to the doorway, she steeled herself and ducked inside, praying no one would think she was being a perv. She didn’t need that added to her list of mistakes for today. 

But she fully regretted her decision to investigate when she looked around and her eyes fell upon the source of the noise. Rowan Whitethorn was kicking the door of one of the dark green lockers. Over and over the bottom of his boot slammed into the metal door until it was caving in on itself. Aelin guessed she should be thankful he was venting his anger on an inanimate object instead of her. 

Rowan slammed the palm of his hand into the door he had been kicking with finality, his shoulders heaving as he breathed heavily, but otherwise he didn’t move again. Until he growled, “What the hell do you want?” He didn’t even bother to look up at her. 

She couldn’t bring herself to say anything for a moment, which seemed to suit him just fine. He began fiddling with the lock hanging on the door, trying to open the now-mangled locker. 

“I’m sorry for ruining your case,” she finally managed. 

He made a dismissive noise in the back of his throat as he gave the lock a hard yank. It didn’t release. It only seemed to piss him off more.

Aelin gnawed on her lip, trying to think of a way to rectify the situation. “If we don’t let your informant back out, won’t your cover remain intact? Can’t you … go back out?" 

Rowan scoffed again. "If I go back out there, I need my _informant_ to get information,” his voice was carefully soft, as if he were trying not to yell again. “But we can’t let him go because he’s the biggest mouth in Orynth. That’s why I picked him. He’ll tell everyone and their mother that I am a police officer. And if I go back out without him, well… word of our arrests will have spread by now. How do you think it will look if I’m back on the streets without him?” He gave the lock another tug, as he added under his breath, “The investigation is fucking screwed." 

"I’m sorry,” she repeated. “But you matched the suspect description. Black hair, black clothes. Tall. What was I supposed to do?”

His pine green eyes shifted around to her, annoyance still clear on his face. “I told you that you were making a mistake and that I was on a job. And this is hair-dye, by the way,” he grumbled, almost as an after thought. 

She shrugged, holding her hands out, palm up. “How the hell was _I_ supposed to know that meant you were a cop? Anyone is going to spew the ‘you’re making a mistake’ shtick when they’re being arrested! And I’ve never seen you before! I don’t know what color your hair is supposed to be!” She added with a roll of her eyes, waving a hand at him in exasperation. 

Rowan’s eyes narrowed into a glare and turned back to his locker, muttering under his breath. Finally, the lock gave a click. 

With sigh, Aelin leaned back against one of the lockers, crossing her arms over her chest. “If it makes you feel any happier, I’ll probably be fired over this anyway,” she muttered quietly.

He yanked the door open and then halted, letting out a heavy breath. “You won’t be fired. No one is going to fire the former police chief’s darling daughter.” His words weren’t reassuring or friendly by any means, in fact his tone was still rather sneering and sarcastic, but at least he didn’t sound as if he wanted to murder her any more. After another heartbeat of silence, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “You said I matched the perp’s description? Tell me what you know.”

Aelin narrowed her eyes, tilting her head as she gave him a wary look. But after a moment she said, “The victims name was Wesley.”

Rowan’s brows shot up in surprise as he turned to look at her again. “If it was Wesley, you can guarantee that the man you’re looking for is Tern.” Rowan began removing his shirt, pulling it up over his head. “Which I find offensive, by the way. I look nothing like that bastard. And he’s not very tall either." 

Aelin blinked as he tossed the black shirt on the floor, but Rowan went on as he toed off his boots. "Wesley _only_ bought from Tern when he couldn’t meet with Arobynn Hamel, their boss, directly. And the two of them always met in that apartment.” Paying no mind to the fact that a woman was standing right next to him, Rowan unfastened his jeans and shoved them down his long legs, kicking them into the growing pile below his locker. “And if Wesley was meeting with Hamel, it wouldn’t have been in that apartment." 

Rowan pulled a towel out of the locker and turned to face her again, standing there clad only in a pair of tight black boxer briefs and Aelin’s eyes raked over him involuntarily. Gods…. He _looked_ like one of those statues of a god you’d find in a temple or museum. His entire body was nothing but corded muscle; his arms, his legs, his abdomen. All sculpted to perfection. A stark-black tattoo swirled over the left side of his chest, shoulder and upper arm. And Aelin was fairly certain that it was it was the swirling lines of the Old Language. 

Against her will, her gaze dipped even lower. And her throat went dry. It was an effort to lift her eyes back to his face when he continued speaking. 

"Tern is a sleazebag, same as Hamel,” Rowan was saying, unfazed by her wandering eyes. “The man I was days away from arresting. There’s a big shipment coming in in five days. Wesley was probably setting up a meeting, like I was, finalizing the meeting details. It’s where I was going to make my arrest. So if that’s all…?” he prompted dismissively.

Aelin swallowed. “What if I helped you get back in?” she asked, sounding breathless. It was an effort to keep her gaze on his face and not let it drift southward again.

He actually blinked in surprise at that, the harshness of his face smoothing out as he stared at her. But then then scowl returned. “After today? I think I’ll pass.” The annoyance was back in his tone.

She flinched at the barb. Fine, if he wanted to keep being childish and petty. Without bothering to respond, Aelin spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, eager to get away from him before he saw just how much his disdain stung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just decided to post part of what I had written since the chapter lengths got out of hand. Sorry for the long wait

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on tumblr, @westofmoon. I post snippets there. 
> 
> I do not consent to this work being hosted on any unofficial apps or to any other websites.


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